Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only Leupold VX-R 2-7 Ballistic FD and a CZ 550 416 Rigby

Anyone running the above combo? What do you think of it and any feedback? I'm considering going this route and taking off the VX-3 1.7-6.

Reno

One thought. I've heard and read that the lightest weight scopes seem to do the best with heavy recoiling guns. Less mass to shake apart, I guess.

Your VX-3 would be hard to beat on that gun, IMO. The VX-R is a good scope, just bigger and heavier.

DF

In my years as a hands on, with the clients on many hunts booking agent specializing in dangerous game (I was a banner advertiser here for a number of years) The only scope failures I have seen on big rifles were Leupolds. Now granted there were only three failures during those years but each one cost one of my hunters a fine game animal trophy. And now the Vari-X lll that has been on only two 257WBY's and a 7mm Mashburn Super has to go back for repair. And yes the erector assembly failure cost me a very nice Mule Deer buck. The scope has a hard time keeping three bull ets on a whole target now. So that makes four failed Leupolds. If it was my 416, and I have that model rifle in that caliber which is much used I would look elsewhere. Mine has the same Burris Posi Lock scope I put on it 20 or 25 years ago, and has NEVER lost zero even after many bumpy rides in Zodiac's, Super Cubs, Land Rovers, Land Cruisers, ATV's and other assundry harsh travels.

With Burris Posi locks getting harder to find, I would look to Nightforce and one of the new generation of scopes which uses a direct drive screwjack system in its erector assembly. I have heard that the high end Vortex scopes utilize this. I have been wanting to Turture test a Vortex upon my 340 Tyrannosaur or some other nasty kicker.

In the cases of the Leupold failures, each was caused by a blow to the scope from the side. Recoil was not the issue and I believe thier scopes to be pretty recoil proof. But in the real hunting world, hunters slip and fall and rifles get kicked over when at rest upon a tire or tree or.....

My .02 since you asked. Good luck and good hunting.

DF--I appreciate the thought. I hadn't really thought about scope weight and recoil absorption. I was looking into it for the reticle and because I want to run a 30mm scope on it.

SM--In all reality for me that gun will never go to another continent for big game. I would like to use it one of these years for a moose/bear rifle. That's about as far as I will ever get to go unless the lottery comes through for me (I'm not holding my breath....LOL). What percentage of the hunters were running Leupolds and do you have an idea of their failure rate. If it was 3 Leupolds out of 4-500 then the failure rate was pretty low. Now if it was 3 out of 20 then I can see a real issue. From everything I have ever heard or read Leupold is pretty good at absorbing recoil it's the repeatable turrets that they struggle with. Another reason I had thought about the ballistic FD reticle. A couple of smaller hold over points that I could try to tailor my load a bit to match.

Reno

Originally I had a Leupold VX-3 2.5-8x36mm with the Boone & Crockett reticle. Was thinking the same thing as you at different aiming points with the 375 Ruger. Then was doing load development and thought with the different aiming points cluttered inside of the scope. I figured a plain duplex is good enough for shooting at game within 300yds. for this caliber. So I traded for a duplex reticle and I am real happy with it. Just something to think about.

700-- I had considered a 2.5-8 for it but like I had said I want to go 30mm on it. The VX-R 2-7 seemed to be the closest I could come and still stay in the low power range I wanted to. This rifle would be more of an heavy woods/thick brush type of gun for whitetail around here. I know it is way more than a guy needs for that but it's what I have. Lol. I have some 350gr Speer bullets I got off of MuleDeer and I think they would make quick work of a whitetail when pushed at a reasonable speed.

Reno

I was never a high volume, big time hunting agent, failure rate was, and this is only MY experience, 3 out of about 50. But for guns that took a solid blow from the side in a fall or kicked over incident, the failure rate was about 3 ou t of 10 or so. For me personally the failure rate is 1 out of 5 or so as I have never had a bunch of Leupolds. I have preffered other brands through the years and still do. More so now than before. Trouble often being the location and purchase of a GOOD scope in a gloss finish for some of my high polish, pretty custom rifles. It is often only a Leupold that is available to me in a decent high gloss package. A matte finish scope would take away much of the beauty of, say, my Len Brownell highly polished CM octagon barrel or my similarly high polish blue and wood pre garcia Sako rifles. So, they wear Leupolds and it is the one on the 7mm Mashburn Super that just went haywire on me.

THIS ^^^^ A cluttered reticle arraingement is a poor idea on a big bore rifle for several reasons. I don't even like them on my long range rigs. Give me a simple Duplex, or a German #4 duplex (such as is mounted upon my 340 and 35 Whelen)please.

This kudu was taken with a relatively light 9,3X74R, wearing a 2-7 Leupold.





And, this cape buffalo was taken with a CZ 550 in 416 Rigby, wearing a 2-7 Leupold.


The scope on the 9,3 had about 300 rounds shot under it, and the scope on the 416 Rigby had about 250. I used the Rigby for shooting varmints out my bedroom window...gophers, jackrabbits, and coyotes...as well as some extensive use in Africa, much of it on plains game. I loaded Speer 350s for the 416 at good velocities, almost 416 WBY, for my varmint load.

I have a 2-7 Leupold on my pre-64 Mdl 70 375 H&H by choice and have one as a second scope in QD mounts on my FN/Sako 375 Wby Mag. I have punished the heck out of these scopes, and not one has failed in any manner.

I would NOT recommend any reticle but a duplex or German #4!

SORRY ABOUT THE PHOTO QUALITY. Its a scan of a scan of a 4X5 photo.

Luv2Safari,

VERY nice trophies! I don't think I have seen those before.

Millions (probably) of Leupolds out there still doing great work. I still have a few on other rifles, but like I said, in my bit of personal experience they handle recoil just great, but blows from the side, not so well sometimes. That was my only point. My 35 Whelen, wildcat veryfast 338 and 416 Rigby carry Burris Posi Locks for that reason. YMMV, as always.

L2S-- very nice looking trophies sir. That buffalo is very cool and looks like he was a mean ole bull.

So what would you guys suggest then for a 30mm scope that won't break the bank and provides the mag range I need.

Reno

May I ask, why 30mm main tube? With 30mm tube you get more moa adjustment then a 1" tube. But with proper mounting system you should do just fine. Where you get the more light gathering capability is the larger objective bell. 30mm scope generally are heavier then a 1" scope.

700XCR is spot on.

That said, there are still both 30mm tube and 1 inch tube Burris Posi Lock scopes for sale in the used market if one looks long enough and is patient. Mine are not for sale, likely ever before I die. Many good things reported about Nightforce and they are now making scopes in lower power ranges and small enough for a normal hunting rifle. Then, one more step down in cost but IMO a great value for the money are the high end VORTEX scopes. Here I am talking about the Viper line and above, not the cheap crossfire etc. My understanding is that VORTEX is using a direct drive / screwjack type of erector assembly rather than bias springs trying to hold everything together like most scopes do.

I think (hope) that in time, the bias spring erector scopes will become as obsolete as flathead motors are now. At least this is my hope.

One more caveat, all of the scope failure's I discussed and observed were (are, present tense, in the case of my scope) Vari-X lll's. I have zero experience with the VX-R line and Leupold very well may have added sideways protections in the scope tube on these to keep the bias springs in place under the event of a hard bump from the side as well as lots of vibrations and jarring during various types of travel in the back country.

Also, if the rifle will never see use against Dangerous Game or severe travel abuse then having a scope go bad at the wrong time is not nearly so great a disaster. For example, my Vari X lll 4.5x14 gloss that is going back to Leupold for repairs will go right back on my 7mm Mashburn Super. I do not and would not have that rifle along on a expensive guided hunt or a hunt for something that bites back. Missing a Mule Deer 30 miles from home is no big deal and I like the optics and other features of the scope enough to keep hunting with it and local deer hunting plus showing it off to friends etc. here at home is about all that rifle does.

Get the 1" tube model. As mentioned the only real advantage the 30mm has is more internal correction. The 1" tube scopes gather just as much light as the 30mm ones, given the same lens sizes, and the 1" scopes are a bit lighter. Every once-in-a-while a smidgen faster handling is a good thing.

I just like 30mm scopes more than 1" scopes on most things. They look better to my eye. I bought a set of the Alaska Arms 30mm rings with the intentions of putting a larger tube on it. The gun is not a lw gun by any means (and for good reason) so a few extra oz's of scope weight isn't gonna affect it much. I know the 30mm tube provides no more light gathering and I don't intend to spin turrets on this one. The barrel has been cut to 21" and I'm gonna have a NECG front sight installed one of these days when I get around to it.

A little back story on the 550....

This is more of a project gun for me than anything. I picked it up for a very good price with a bunch of ammo, brass, bullets and dies. The stock needs a lot of tlc, but, as it sits now it is still fully functional. Some Joe Bob did a crappy job of trying to add finish to the stock (which is why it was cheap) and I had been wanting a stock to practice some wood finishing skills on. So this one seemed to provide that for me. The recoil pad was replaced with a Simms and a crappy job was done on it as well. The gun functions flawlessly and shoots well so I think when I'm all done I will have a nice rifle that at 21" is very handy for my intended purposes. I guess when I'm done I will have it set up the way I want it and know that I brought it back from certain demise!! Lol. The next step is gonna be strip the stock, touch it up a bit and start applying a hand rubbed finish. I do keep my eye out for a replacement stock though just incase this one doesn't work out quiet the way I want it to. Also a classic looking red pad will be added in place of the Simms.

Kind of a long story but I figured I'd fill you guys in with what I'm doing and my line of thinking on it. As crazy as it may be at times!! Lol

Reno

Sounds like a great project, and done right. The CZ wood can sometimes turn out quite nice once a person gets down to the real grain and color. You can take a look at mine in the thread I started here a couple of weeks ago.

I'm running the 2-7 ballistic firedot on an 8 pound 376 Steyr. Works great, good balance.

SM--I remember seeing that one. It is a beauty for sure!! Mine is never gonna be that nice!! Lol

RW--What so you think of the scope itself?

Reno

Reno, your wood may very well BE that nice, underneath the factory quick finish. Once you have it down to bare wood and properly sanded extra smooth, run some wet rottenstone on it vigourously and you may be surprised at what pops out.

Good luck, that is a quite fine rifle you are working on.